Alien characters in truth elude her (5)

I believe the answer is:

ethel

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'her' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'alien characters in truth elude' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'alien' could be 'et' (extra terrestrial) and 'et' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hel' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ethel that I've seen before include "Female name" , "Dame --- Smyth; William Brown's sister" , "- Merman, US musical comedy star" , "Lethe (anag) -- Barrymore or Merman" , "Trying not to be seen" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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